I bought a MINI Cooper Coolant Antifreeze (1G). I was using it as is without mixing with water. I thought it's already mixed. I used just 1 gallon like this. From now on I will mix with water.
The questions are:

1. Can this harm the system?
2. Should I clean the system? If yes, how?

 

Edit I misread so I deleted my answer, never mind.

 

How much did you use out of the gallon?


Normally the coolant level should not change unless there is a problem (leaking thermostat or water pump, for example).


Mike

 

I've used almost the whole gallon.
I do have a leaking thermostat. I'm going to replace the thermostat housing by myself. I just want to know if using not-mixed-with-water coolant could harm something and/or I need to do something else when I'm going to replace the thermostat housing, like cleaning?

 

Good question, how much did you use of the 1 gallon? (Edit: was writing this when you posted an answer to his question). The coolant must have the correct mixture and chemical compounds to promote heat transfer, protect against freezing, and also inhibit corrosion. It's important to keep your cooling system at the correct pH as well. Water has a pH of 7 and is considered neutral. Battery acid is highly corrosive and has a pH of about 2-3, whereas baking soda is very alkaline, and has a pH of about 10-11. In general, you want to make sure that your coolant has a pH greater than seven. Any pH less than that will result in an acidic mixture, which will start to corrode your engine. The corrosion inhibitors in additives and antifreeze are added specifically to keep the pH above 7. A properly mixed 50/50 split between water and antifreeze will yield a pH of about 8-9. Our coolant change DIY here contains all of this information and more about the cooling system as well as a step by step process of how to maintenance it. Hope this helps.

 

Pelican, thanks for the info.
1 - How I can check if it caused any damage already? Or you think that 1 gallon won't do any damage as long as I continue using the correct mixture?
2 - Should I drain the current coolant (not mixed with water) and refill with the correct mixture? Or you suggest me to do this when I'm going to replace the thermostat housing?

 

Do you plan on doing the thermostat soon? I think you're probably alright, but what I would do is check the coolant tank to see if there is any calcium build up. If you do see some, I'd change it right away. Otherwise, If you wait until you do the t-stat housing, I'd just add in distilled water rather than coolant.

 

Since you did not contaminate the COOLING system with anything other than improperly mixed coolant, cleaning is not needed...
Just drain the mis-mixed FLUID...and refil with the suggested 50%-50% or 60%-40% mix...
you could guess..drain a bit, then add a bit of distilled water....most likely good enough...all about judgement.
Too much coolant and not enough water can make an engine run hotter..maybe strain the water pump cause the fluid is thicker...but doubt you hurt it.

Now if you had filled the coolant system with, say, strawberry milk to get home, then a "cleaning" or flush would be needed.....
But you filled it with coolant, that was even the correct spec...

 

The coolant level in the tank is between min and max. Do you still suggest me to fill with distilled water or what?

 

If you plan on driving it then yes for the reasons mentioned by other posters, for heat transfer. The problem now is you'll never get all that coolant out even if you attempt to drain it, you can't drain every bit of coolant out of the head.

I'm assuming you didn't bleed the cooling system either which mean there must be air in there as well.

 

Systemlord, I'm going to replace it tomorrow (Saturday). I'll drain it anyway. Should I fill the distilled water after I drain it in order to remove the concentrated coolant or not? l have another question: The dripping of the coolant on the transmission created green layers. How to clean it?

 

Reality check....
If you are unsure how to fill and drain a COOLING system, then bleed it, do you really want to open it up and change parts in it??
Seems like it might be outside of your comfort zone.
My suggestion....
Just drain out what you need too...then refil with the 50-50 mix...or of it is more worrysome to you, drop the lower radior hose...and drain more out...then refil with the 50-50 mix...
Might be higher concentration in the block...but will mix to an acceptable mix...like I said before..it is about judgement... Car repair is an inexact process.
Dried coolant is just that...wash it off...low pressure water...a hose under the hood with wires does not mix well will high pressures of high volume....

 

If you fill your cooling system with distilled water for a short time and allow the thermostat to open/close a few times then draining by disconnecting the lower radiator hose then that would get most of the concentrate coolant out.

After you add a mix of 50/50 distilled water/coolant you'll need to bleed the air out of the system.

 

Systemlord, I'm going to replace the thermostat today. Though you all wrote very helpful things I want to be sure that I do the right thing:
Draining:
1 - I will disconnect the lower radiator hose, drain the coolant.
2 - Before I refill with a correct mixture, should I refill the system with just distilled water and drain in to clean the system or not?
After replacing the thermostat I'll refill the coolant. Do I have to fill just into the coolant tank or also in the radiator itself (I just saw in many videos that people fill into the radiator itself and then into the tank).

Bleeding:
I should open the bleeding screw, turn on the engine, turn on the heat and when I'll see the coolant comes out I should close it, right?

I'll be glad if you could answer to all my question clearly.

Thank you very much.

 

A word of advice, use saran wrap to wrap around your ECU harness because the last thing you want is water/coolant getting your main ECU harness! Your best bet is to remove the entire air-box w/air filter, this will allow you to easily remove the intake piping that leads from the front grill/headlight to your air-box! Otherwise you'll have a hell of a time removing the elbow piece from the air-box. Remove the turbo charge pipe, detach the MAF sensor from the front right of the air-box housing using a torx screwdriver, there's only two torx screws and only one larger torx screw securing the air-box to the intake manifold. After all that comes off will make your life easier!

Unless you have the BMW tool to remove those clamps holding the rubber hoses to the thermostat your in for one rude awakening, they require some patience using some kind of vise grip like tool. Perhaps another can chime in here.

 

Systemlord, so what about the draining - should I do what I've written in bullet #2? The bleeding process I wrote - is it correct?

Another question regarding screwing back the thermostat housing. What torque I should use in torque wrench when I tighten the bolts of the thermostat housing?

 

Post #2 has been edited, no info. I think you should >>

Thermostat housing to cylinder head 8 Nm (71 in-lb)

Cooling System, filling and bleeding:

Before Bleeding without Vacuum Bleeder:

1. Switch ignition ON. Do not start engine.

2. Set heater temperature controls to full warm.

3. Set blower control to low.

4. Set seat heater control to maximum.

5. Using coolant mixture 50% coolant and 50% distilled water,
fill expansion tank slowly.

6. Start engine and run at idle speed for one minute (coolant reservoir cap open) Adjust coolant level to max mark. Close cap.

7. Run engine until it reaches operating temperature (226 degrees Fahrenheit).

8. After engine has cooled, recheck coolant level.

9. Top up so that coolant is at MAX.

Capacity 5.2L (1.4 gal)

Lets not even worry about air in the cooling system until the above is performed, you may not even need to bleed.

 

systemlord, thanks for advise regarding removing the entire air-box!
I removed the old T housing. I connected the new housing. While I was tightening one of the 3 bolts one of them broke. Luckily, I was able to remove the broken bolt. I'm going to buy a new bolt and assemble the car.
The way I was tightening the bolts is: I manually tightened the bolts and then tightened 3 times with a wrench. Probably 3 times is too much.
So, my question is, how tight I should tighten the bolts? How do I know that they are tightened enough?

 

I gave you the torque figures because I thought you would use a torque wrench, 5.9 ft∙lb or 8 Nm is three times less than the torque of a spark plug. Do you know how much force is required to snap a bolt in two? I wouldn't suggest any other way because of the fact that you broke a bolt for the simple reason of not using the proper tools. Question is did you also damage the new thermostat housing (being made of plastic and all) using way to much torque, I guess time will tell.

You might think you're saving money now by doing it yourself but I have found that those who don't follow proper procedure sometimes make more problems for themselves later on. If you're not going to use the proper tools like a torque wrench I would suggest you not work on you car at all. Get a torque wrench or take it in to someone who does have a torque wrench.

 

I checked the housing and I didn't see any cracks. Is there any way to check or I just need to put it on and drive?

 

When I had a crack in my thermostat housing I didn't see it either, you can't always see the cracks with the naked eye. That's why I said we shall wait and see, no way to check.

 

I replaced the thermostat housing. I did everything that was said.
When I was refilling the coolant I used 3/4 of gallon of the mixed (50/50) coolant. The tank was full after that. I took the car to the drive. After 6-7min of drive (60mph) yellow engine overheating indicator was on and after a second it turned red. I stopped immediately. I checked the coolant tank and it was empty. I heard some kind of sizzle or a hiss. (I assume because of overheating?). I checked for the leaks, but everything was dry. I assume that when I was driving the 3/4 of gallon was taken by the radiator (right?) So, I filled the last 1/4 of gallon that I had and slowly returned to home. No overheating indicator was on. I opened the hood and heard a very very quite sizzle or a hiss. I'm going let it cool down and fill the coolant to the max again. Should I take after that the car to the second ride? Any suggestions/thoughts?

Update:
I filled the coolant to the max. Let it run on idle for a few minutes. Then pressed gas pedal for a minute-two at 2-3 rpm. The coolant was still at max level. After a few minutes on running on idle I see a small white steam (not very heavy) and the edges of the exhaust pipes are wet. Here are the links 1 - wet exhaust pipes' edges, 2 - faint white steam. I also heard a faint sizzle noise from left exhaust pipe. Is it all normal or I have other problems (Blown Head Gasket??)?

 

I must agree with this quote from ZippyNH.

I think it's time you took your Mini to a professional that knows what he's doing or your going to destroy your Mini Cooper. I think when you snapped that bolt on your new thermostat housing it destroyed it because you didn't use proper tools. Now your in hot water and I believe your out of your league, it's time to take your Mini to a professional! You'll be considered lucky if it's just a cracked thermostat housing from over torquing it.

I don't know why you went for a 60 mph ride so soon, perhaps riding around town at slower speeds with the extra coolant would have been safer. Now you might have blown a head gasket and warped the head. You clearly had air in the cooling system which is what lead to your overheating, because you had to add 1/4 more coolant.

 

But there is no leaking around the head. After I refilled to the max second time it stays at the max level. Could it be just that radiator took everything the first time since it was empty?
Is it safe to drive slowly 27miles to the dealership or should I tow it? Please answer my question above about the radiator too.
Thanks.

 

After all that has happened and now you want to drive 27 miles, tow your Mini to be on the safe side, wouldn't you rather pay for a tow than to possible warp your head and maybe destroy your engine? As for your radiator it is only one piece of the cooling system which does not hold much coolant at all for a radiator, there is more coolant in the hoses, thermostat housing, and especially the pipe between the thermostat housing and the main pump. If you had waited long enough (10-15 minutes) or at lease drove around your neighborhood after filling your cooling system the thermostat would have opened allowing coolant to pass through the thermostat housing once the coolant in the head reached a set temperature.

I wish there was a radiator cap in case you do overheat at least you're not prevented from adding coolant to a reservoir like with other cars and trucks, but since that's the only place to add coolant you're prevented from doing so because the coolant will rush outward and squirt boiling coolant at your face. You're left to helplessly to watch your engine overheat knowing you can't add more coolant until it's all over! Stupid designed German cars, but God I love driving them!

Why is it that everyone thinks they should take their Mini to a Mini dealer? Mini owner's need to start recognizing that Mini dealers will empty your savings quickly and sell you on repairs that aren't necessary, that's what I would want if I had to pay for a huge multi-million dollar facility with hundreds of thousands of dollars of computerized equipment and specialty tools. Whenever I need work done on my Mini I leave South Orange County I live in and drive or tow my Mini to some place with excellent reviews and reputations which usually are located near Los Angeles and San Bernardino County!

My Mini dealer charged me $800 for a walnut blasting of my intake valves and performed a horrible job because they didn't completely finish blasting all the carbon off my valves which I have proof of from their pictures. Almost all independent Mini/BMW shops charge between $350 and $450 for the same job here in Southern California. I find that these independent Mini/BMW shops do a much better job because they care about their reputation, without a good reputation these independent shops would disappear.

Mini dealers (mine already did) risk losing customer's because they try to sell you things you don't really need, typically you visit a dealer for something as simple as a new tensioner install and attempt to swindle you into thinking something else is wrong (static cam timing off by half a tooth) when it isn't, gotta love the Vanos solenoid since it retards the intake cam during idling independent of the exhaust cam. After my BAR complaint the person assigned to my case told me I had nothing to worry about and that my cam timing was within spec according to the mechanic, something the mechanic failed to mention but wanted $827 to realign the cams! He was honest with the BAR Rep but not the customer because the BAR Rep is more knowledgeable and can't be easily fooled like 95% of customer's.